


Both Sides of the Looking Glass

by Typhoon_56



Category: Star Trek: Discovery
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, F/F, Implied Relationships, Loss, Mirror Universe, Swearing, Trauma
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-13
Updated: 2019-03-12
Packaged: 2019-11-16 10:42:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,337
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18092774
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Typhoon_56/pseuds/Typhoon_56
Summary: The ruthless Captain Killy meets the kindhearted Ensign Tilly when an accident leaves Tilly stranded in the mirror universe.What could possibly go wrong?





	Both Sides of the Looking Glass

**Author's Note:**

> So there may be a few mistakes here and there but I'm only human so can you blame me? 
> 
> Anyway I hope you enjoy reading this! :)

Captain Killy was busy cleaning the trophies from her many battles and had was sharpening the Bat'leth she had won after defeating a group of Klingons, when a steady beep echoed throughout her quarters.

_'Incoming transmission from the Shenzhou, Captain'_

Killy paused momentarily from sharpening the weapon, wondering who would dare to interrupt her, before responding and continuing her work.

'Is the channel secure?' 

_'Aye, Captain'_ The young ensign said curtly.

'Then stop wasting my time and patch it through before I shoot you with your own phaser' Killy said coldly, smiling to herself.

 _'Patching it through.'_ The lieutenant replied, his voice laced with fear as he spoke almost too quickly.

No one would blame him for being fearful though since the crew knew that threat in particular was very real, which they had discovered when an ensign was late to his post one morning.

Killy carefully put the blade back into it's rightful place on the wall before walking over to her desk to answer the message.

Once Killy had settled in her chair she answered the transmission, the screen before her lighting up to reveal who the caller was.

'Captain Burnham, I hope this transmission is worth the delay you've caused my schedule. I was looking foward to attacking those rebels camps on Catara so this better be important.' 

Burnham appeared unaffected and instead just brushed off the threatening tone.

'There's no need for the hostility Kil, this channel is secure. No need for the intimidation tactics here, so you can stop the threats...'

Killy visibly relaxed at the revelation, as she no longer had to put the intimidating front on. 

At least not for the time being anyway.

'... Besides you'll get your opportunity for destruction soon but for now I've found something I think you'll be rather interested in.'

This piqued Killy's interest, especially as Burnham usually just cut to the chase when delivering a message. 

'Can you get on with it then? I'm not exactly known for my patience.' Killy said, sounding annoyed.

Burnham mearly scoffed at Killys impatient demeanour before smiling mischievously, 'Well I already knew that. I mean you did practically jump my bones last time we met.' 

The memory caused Killy to laugh softly and look away momentarily, the reaction wouldn't have meant much to the untrained eye but Burnham knew that it meant that Killy felt a little embarrassed.

'We had just crushed that pathetic rebellion on Hathos, so can you blame me for wanting to celebrate our victory?' Killy replied, trying to justify her actions. 

Burnham only chuckled at the response but remembering the reason why she had hailed in the first place.

'Perhaps not. Now as much as I love reminising over our celebrations, we should probably talk business.'

'Go ahead' 

'Okay, we came across a shuttlecraft yesterday that had a warp signature that was...odd'

Killy appeared confused, 'What do you mean, odd?'

'I mean the signature differed slightly and appeared unusual. I wouldn't have thought anything of it but the signature's wavelengths matched those that came from that universe the Emperor dealt with.'

'Did you really just come here to tell me that you have a shuttlepod from the other universe?' Killy asked.

'It gets even better than that, I have the pilot. I think you're going to want to meet her since... well let's just say you both have a lot in common'

It took a few seconds for Killy to realise what Burnham was referring to but once she realised she let out a deep breath that she hadn't known she was holding. 

The room was quiet for a few moments as Killy processed what she had been told, she had only heard about the other universe in reports and she never thought she'd meet someone from there.

She was thankful really as the other universe only served as a painful remainder of the ship and crew she lost. She regretted not being there when the Discovery had switched universes with its counterpart. 

Killy had left the ship to meet with a potential new weapons supplier who asked that she meet him in person by shuttlepod and afterwards she had returned to the meeting point, but her ship never did. It wasn't until much later that she was informed about the doppelgangers and she was then given a new ship and crew.

Killy quickly shook the memory from her mind to focus on the matter at hand, 'I'll prepare to beam across right away.'

'Good. I'll make sure our guest is ready for you. Burnham out'

The viewscreen went blank and Killy found herself balling her hands into fists as she recalled the loss of her former crew. Whilst she was known for being a brutal Captain, she was actually well liked by her crew and they were loyal soldiers so their deaths impacted Killy more than she wanted to admit.

Killy was only brought back to reality once she realised that she had balled her hands up so tightly that she had now had small, cresant-shaped indents on her palms. She then quickly wiped away the drops of blood that her nails had created before tapping her comm badge.

'Captain to the transporter room, prepare for transport to the Shenzhou. One to beam across.'

 _'Right away Captain. Are you sure it is wise to go alone?'_ A crew member asked, sounding wary.

'Are you questioning my order Lieutenent!?' Killy barked as she wasn't in the mood for arguments.

_'No Captain. Transporter room is ready whenever you are'_

And with that Killy stood up from her desk before heading towards the door to leave her quarters, pausing only to straighten her uniform out before exiting. 

She then walked straight through the bustling corridoor, unable to stop the sense of pride when each crew member moved out of her way before saluting her. It wasn't long before Killy had reached the transporter room and had walked over to the transporter pad. 

She then gave a swift nod to the lieutenant who was in charge.

'One to beam across.' 

Killy then found herself standing abroad the Shenzhou with Captain Burnham standing before her, guards either side of her.

'Welcome aboad Captain.' 

'Let's cut to the chase Burnham. Show me the prisoner' Killy said firmly, causing the guards to tense up slightly whilst Burnham only smirked at their reaction.

'Follow me.' Burnham said. 

The two Captains then left the transporter room and began to walk along the corridoors of the Shenzhou. Burnham had made the conscious effort of making sure that both herself and Killy stayed a few pages ahead of the guards, so that they could talk out of earshot. Afterall you could never be too careful.

'So how are you feeling about this? I mean it's not everyday you meet your counterpart from another universe.' Burnham asked quietly.

'It doesn't matter how I feel. She is a fugitive and a prisoner so what happens to her is none of my concern.' 

The nonchalant attitude may have fooled others but Burnham knew Killy too well by now to fall for it. 

'Perhaps. But she is identical to you...' Burnham began.

'...Only genetically! I can assure you I am nothing like those cowardly peacekeepers.' Killy exclaimed, perhaps a little bit too loudly as the guards seems to shorten the distance between themselves and the Captains. 

This didn't go unnoticed by Burnham who lowered her voice even further as they continued to walk along the corridoor, 'I never said you were but it's still going to be unsettling.'

Killy merely scoffed at the idea, 'I have battled enemies far more threatening than her, I'll be fine.'

Suddenly Killy found herself outside the door to the brig, unable to go further. Perhaps she wasn't as prepared as she once thought.

Burnham noticed her trepidation and asked calmly, 'Ready?' Killy nodded in response and entered the brig.

Killy now found herself standing in front of a cell that had it's forcefield up and the inmate inside was facing away from her. However the bright orange hair was confirmation enough of who was in the cell.

'Leave us' Burnham said to the guards who looked at each other uncertain but the glare Burnham gave them was enough to send them rushing out of the room.

Upon hearing the familiar voice the prisoner turned around to face the Captains.

Now for some reason Killy felt taken aback.

She knew what to expect when she read the report on her counterpart but actually seeing her was entirely different.

The reaction her counterpart gave was almost identical to Killy's which made her feel even more on edge.

'Uncanny isn't it?' Burnham said, breaking the silence that Killy hadn't realised has fallen. 

Now that her lookalike has turned around she noticed that she had several cuts and bruises, the black eye and bloody lip drew the most attention. Killy turned to Burnham and raised an eyebrow in question.

'She wasn't being very cooperative with the guards.' Burnham replied.

'You should let me go before the Discovery comes here to kick your ass' Tilly said, sounding annoyed. 

'We've already analysed the logs. You came here by accident so I doubt your crew will find a way here so if I were you I'd find a reason to be kept alive, so start talking' Burnham threatened.

'Go to hell' Tilly exclaimed.

'Maybe you're more like each than you thought Kil' Burnham said, laughing before turning to Killy.

Killy stepped closer towards the cell and looked at the woman before her. Her uniform was ragged and bloody, her face was slightly swollen and bleeding but the thing that Killy felt drawn towards was the fiery hair.

'You kept the hair' Killy thought aloud.

It was obvious by the confused looks on everyone faces that it wasn't something anyone in the room expected to hear, so Tilly just shrugged and found herself running a hand through her hair absentmindedly.

'You didn't.' 

'I actually wanted to be taken seriously and I couldn't do that looking like that.' Killy retorted.

Tilly looked offended momentarily before answering back, 'I bet mother was glad about that. She always hated the hair.'

Killy laughed at that, as she recalled the lecture she got from her mother when she was a child, as her mother got rid of her fiery curls, one by one.

'Well I guess some things don't change no matter what universe you're in. Mother always was a bitch.' Killy joked.

'As much as I'm enjoying hearing you talk to... yourself. I think we need to ask some questions' Burnham interrupted, which reminded Killy of her presence which she had somehow forgotten about momentarily.

'Of course.' Killy agreed before beginning to ask Tilly questions.

'So, what do you know about travelling between the universes?'

_Silence._

'What about your ship's schematics, what weaknesses are there?'

_Silence._

'Stubborn isn't she?' Burnham interjected.

'Fine then, Sylvia Tilly you are charged with espionage and trespassing into the Empires territory. Your punishment is to be determined by your willingness to co-operate.' Burnham threatened.

'My crew will come for me soon and then you'll be sorry.'

'Perhaps a few hours in the agoniser will loosen that tongue of yours. Captain Killy if you would do the honours.'

Killy looked back at her counterpart and for some reason she felt uneasy over the idea of hurting her. She couldn't disagree with Burnham however as this was her ship, her prisoner and her decisions were final. 

With a glance back to Burnham she realised she had no choice but to go to the door and let the guards in the room.

'Guards, take her to the agoniser chamber.' Killy ordered as firmly as she could.

The forcefield disappeared as two strong arms gripped onto Tilly's, holding her tightly as she thrashed around trying to break free from their grasp. 

A swift kick to the back of Tilly's knees meant she quickly lost any advantage she may have had and she was soon dragged out of the room. 

'Let me go! You'll regret this!' Tilly's voice rang out before the door closed once more and Killy and Burnham were left alone in the brig.

Killy felt annoyed at the choice she had forced to make so she decided to make her opinions heard.

'What's the matter Burnham, couldn't send her yourself?' Killy asked angrily. 

'I could have done but I just wanted to see if you would.'

'Are you doubting my ability to follow orders?' Killy asked.

'Never, but the crew might. Look it's only a matter of time before everyone finds out about her so you need to look as ruthless as ever now so there's no doubts over how trustworthy you are regarding the prisoner.' Burnham explained before continuing.

'You are similar in many ways don't forget so some may think you share her views and opinions, you don't need to give your enemies ammunition.' 

Killy thought about this for a moment before seeming to calm down. 

'You're right. I need to tread carefully, afterall a mutiny is only fun when you're not the one being overthrown.' Killy said with a laugh as she remembered that she got her captaincy by killing her former captain. 

'Exactly and I don't want to see you dead so you need to stop any doubts before they begin.' Burnham reasoned.

The response only cause Killy to smile though.

'What?' Burnham asked.

'For a second there Burnham, it sounded like you actually cared.' Killy teased.

'Maybe. Just don't tell anyone.' Burnham said jokingly but both of them knew it had some truth to it.

'I won't' Killy agreed.

Silence fell once more in the room as the couple shared glances and smirks at each other.

'So...what should we do whilst the prisoner is in the agoniser?' Killy asked innocently.

'My quarters?' Burnham said suggestively, causing Killy to grin widely.

'Thought you'd never ask.' Killy said before walking out of the brig and towards Burnham's quarters, with Burnham trailing not far behind her.


End file.
